When Radio Met Neon in Parliament

Looking back, it feels surreal: in June 1939, just months before Britain plunged into war, Parliament was wrestling with the problem of neon sign shop London interfering with radios.

Gallacher, never one to mince words, demanded answers from the Postmaster-General. Was Britain’s brand-new glow tech ruining the nation’s favourite pastime – radio?

The reply turned heads: the Department had received nearly one thousand reports from frustrated licence-payers.

Imagine it: the soundtrack of Britain in 1938, interrupted not by enemy bombers but by shopfront glow.

Major Tryon confessed the problem was real. The snag was this: there was no law compelling interference suppression.

He promised consultations were underway, but stressed that the problem was "complex".

In plain English: no fix any time soon.

Gallacher pressed harder. He pushed for urgency: speed it up, Minister, people want results.

From the backbenches came another jab. Wasn’t the state itself one of the worst offenders?

Tryon deflected, London neon signs basically admitting the whole electrical age was interfering with itself.

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Looking back now, this debate is almost poetic. In 1939 neon was the villain of the airwaves.

Jump ahead eight decades and the roles have flipped: neon is the endangered craft fighting for survival, while plastic LED fakes flood the market.

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So what’s the takeaway?

First: neon has always rattled cages. From crashing radios to clashing with LED, it’s always been about authenticity vs convenience.

Second: every era misjudges neon.

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The Smithers View. We see proof that neon was powerful enough to shake Britain.

So, yes, old is gold. And that’s why we keep bending glass and filling it with gas today.

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Ignore the buzzwords of "LED neon". Real neon has been debated in Parliament for nearly a century.

If neon could shake Westminster before the war, it can certainly shake your walls now.

Choose craft.

Smithers has it.

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